Château Grand Mayne

The estate

Jacques Laveau founded Grand Mayne around 1685 with about 30 hectares, and his son took it to something near 250; the Laveaus kept it until 1893. The manor house of the 16th century is a listed historic monument. The name took a while to settle. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, had Le Mayne among the second growths of Saint-Émilion in 1868; by 1893 it was Château du Mayne, a first growth under L. Massip at 35 tonneaux (the old Bordeaux measure of a crop, 900 liters, or 4 barrels), which the guide dated back to the founding of Libourne; and in 1908, under Termes-Dubroca, it was Château Grand Mayne, a registered mark, making 100 tonneaux on 42 hectares.

Jean Nony, a wine merchant from the Corrèze, bought Grand Mayne in 1934, and his family holds it still. Jean-Pierre Nony ran it from 1977 to 2001 and Marie-Françoise Nony after him; Jean-Antoine Nony has been general manager since the start of the 2010s, with Damien Nony beside him from 2020, and Pierre-Yves Petit is technical director. The classification record is as steady as the ownership: Grand Cru Classé in 1955, 1969, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2012 and in the list of September 2022, never promoted and never demoted.

The 17 hectares lie on the western côte, facing southwest and rising to about 55 meters: limestone on the hillside, clay in the small valley at its middle, sand on the lower slopes. The planting is mostly Merlot with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon, at 5,500 vines a hectare on the older parcels and 6,700 on the new, and the vines are about 30 years old on average. The wine ferments in wooden vats and stainless steel and goes through malolactic in barrel. Filia de Grand Mayne is the second wine, first made in 1986 as Les Plantes du Mayne.

At a glance

Appellation

Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Commune

Saint-Émilion, on the western côte

Classification

Grand Cru Classé in every list, 1955 to 2022

Owners

The Nony family, since 1934

Direction

Jean-Antoine Nony, general manager; Damien Nony, from 2020; Pierre-Yves Petit, technical director

Vineyard

17 hectares facing southwest, rising to about 55 meters; 5,500 to 6,700 vines a hectare; vines about 30 years old on average

Ground

Limestone on the hillside, clay in the valley, sand on the lower slopes

Grapes

Mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon

Cellar

Wooden vats and stainless steel; malolactic in barrel

Wines

Château Grand Mayne; Filia de Grand Mayne, first made in 1986

The house

A manor of the 16th century, listed as a historic monument

In history

Le Mayne in 1868; Château du Mayne, 35 tonneaux, in 1893; Château Grand Mayne, 100 tonneaux on 42 hectares, in 1908

Sources: Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Château Grand Mayne · Office de Tourisme de Saint-Émilion, Château Grand Mayne · Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, the classification of 2022, press kit